LONDON, April 8: A 12-minute hat-trick by German Denis kept Inter Milan’s hopes of a place in next season’s Champions League in check on Sunday while Olympique Lyon also suffered the same fate as the race for European spots intensified in the continent’s top leagues.

Mainz 05’s hopes of a first Champions League appearance also faded on Sunday and Atletico Madrid had two players sent off as they lost more ground on city rivals Real Madrid.

Inter were set to move above Fiorentina in the race for a Champions League place in Serie A when Ricardo Alvarez scored twice in four minutes to put them 3-1 ahead against Atalanta, until his fellow Argentine Denis sprang into action to give his side a 4-3 win.

Their city rivals AC Milan had earlier squandered a two-goal lead over 10-man Fiorentina and settled for a 2-2 draw in an entertaining match between the third- and fourth-placed clubs.

Milan (58 points) stayed six points ahead of Fiorentina (52) with Inter and Lazio two points further behind in the race for the Champions League qualifying round place.

The top two in Serie A qualify for the Champions League group stage and third place earns a place in the playoff round. Leaders Juventus have 71 points with Napoli, who outclassed Genoa 2-0 thanks to goals from Goran Pandev and Blerim Dzemaili, their closest challengers nine points behind.

Lyon’s already slim Ligue 1 title hopes evaporated and they also lost third place and the final Champions League qualifying spot to St Etienne, who won 1-0 against Evian Thonon Gaillard, while they lost by the same score-line at Stade Reims for whom Grzegorz Krychowiak was the match winner.

St Etienne, who won courtesy a late own goal by Evian goalkeeper Bertrand Laquait, and Lyon are level on 53 points with Les Verts ahead on goal difference. The two teams are four points behind Olympique Marseille.

Lille are fifth, a point behind Lyon and St Etienne, after crushing Lorient 5-0 as they continued their bid for a European place.

In the Bundesliga, Mainz missed a first-half penalty in a 2-1 defeat at Nuremberg for whom Sweden defender Per Nilsson scored twice from set pieces as they moved to ninth, a point behind their opponents.

Mainz are eighth in the table with 39 points, six adrift of fourth-placed Schalke 04 who are in the Champions League qualifying round spot, with six matches to play.

Hanover 96’s hopes of a European qualification place were also dealt a blow after they could only draw 0-0 at home with VfB Stuttgart to stay level on points with Nuremberg.

Elsewhere, Atletico slipped three points behind second-placed Real as they sputtered to a 0-0 draw at Getafe in La Liga. Atletico have 62 points with eight games left, with champions Real on 65 and leaders Barcelona a further 13 points ahead.

The draw means Atletico have now won just one of their last five league games.

The top three in Spain qualify for the Champions League and the next best team goes through to the preliminary round.Real Sociedad occupy fourth spot with 51 points, tow ahead of Valencia who recorded a 2-1 victory over 10-man Real Valladolid through Jonas’ stoppage-time goal.

The lucrative berth to play in Europe’s top-tier competitions next season is important for all teams, but even more so for the heavily indebted Valencia whose president Manuel Llorente quit on Friday amid ongoing financial turmoil at the club. —Agencies